I’m dying to see these movies

Last month I took a look at some trailers that were so bad they were killing my desire to see the movies they were advertising. I truly believe cutting good trailers is a dying art, but there are still some amazing trailers out there, doing their job and selling their movies to me. Here are a few trailers that are getting me totally stoked to go to the movies.

Date Night

No, it doesn’t look like groundbreaking cinema. But this trailer makes me laugh every time. Tina Fey and Steve Carell look like they have some good comic chemistry going on, and James Franco and Mila Kunis are both funny. Sometimes you just want to see a movie that you know will make you laugh. Bonus points for having Mark Wahlberg in a supporting role–he’s much more tolerable in small doses. The movie is being sold, though, on Fey and Carell’s likeability. And they are very, very likeable. Fey especially–she has a kind of Lucille Ball, “working woman in Hollywood” vibe, and I do lady-crush on her. Fey has good taste. If she signed on to this movie, it’s probably worth my time and $10.

Iron Man 2

Please. Like you’re not dying to see it, too. The next chapter in the Tony Stark tale, introducing new villains Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) and Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell, brilliantly cast). Don Cheadle takes over as Rhodey/War Machine (upgrade), and Gwyneth Paltrow is back as the world’s snootiest secretary, Pepper Potts. Of course, the sexy beast himself Robert Downey, Jr. is Tony/Iron Man. We also get Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, a sort of Selina Kyle, is-she-or-isn’t-she-a-villain character, which is an interesting bit of casting. Of course ScarJo has the face and the body to be a comic book femme fatale, but the acting skillz come and go with this one. I never mind her presence on screen, but I do wonder which Scarlett will be starring in my movie today–good Scarlett or, “I have no expressions” Scarlett. I hope she brought her A-game to Iron Man 2. Also, love that they didn’t tack on a subtitle. Jon Favreau kept it simple, knowing that RDJ and company need no dressing up with silly titles. We’d all just be calling it “Iron Man 2” anyway, might as well stick to simple. The trailer is awesome, big on action and sass, the things that made the first Iron Man so successful.

Kick Ass

Kick Ass has two awesome trailers. The theatrical trailer above, and the Hit Girl red-band trailer below. Hit Girl trailer is so NSFW it’s not even funny (but really, it’s hilarious), and even the theatrical cut is pretty raw. This movie ain’t for everyone, but if you’re like me and have always wondered if it would be possible to be a superhero without being super, Kick Ass is right up your alley. And Hit Girl may be the greatest pre-teen female character ever invented. Played by Chloe Grace Moretz ([500] Days of Summer), she’s sassy, fearless, filthy, and she will fuck you up. Add in Nicolas Cage in what looks to be another, “I can act, remember?” performance, the always delightful Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad), and newcomer and suddenly-everywhere Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy), and the cast looks good, too. PS: the trailer uses Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” which is so phenomenal for the movie and the trailer’s editing that I almost can’t handle it. Am wondering if I’m too old to be Hit Girl for Halloween…

Robin Hood

Ridley Scott’s reboot of the Robin Hood story is probably unnecessary, but goddamn if it doesn’t look awesome. Russell Crowe steps into the role of Robin, Cate Blanchett is Maid Marian, and the rest of the cast includes Mark Strong, William Hurt, Matthew Macfadyen and Mark Addy. It looks like they’ve tried to ground the Robin Hood story into a realistic historical framework, but based on the trailer the history looks a bit fucked. I’m going to assume the full movie will explain some of this better than the trailer has done. What the trailer does well is show me an awesome summer action movie. It looks like Gladiator in The Kingdom of Heaven with a dash of Braveheart thrown in, but instead of coming across as old and tired, Robin Hood looks like the ultimate sword and sandal epic (minus the sandals). These are the roles Crowe excels at–the embittered, unwilling hero–and there’s enough of Blanchett in the trailer to sell me on her older, stronger, more capable Maid Marian. I’m definitely looking forward to this more than, say, Prince of Persia.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

When I first heard of this movie, I was indifferent. I’m a fan of director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), but I’m not into Michael Cera (Superbad). So–meh. But the trailer came out yesterday and frak–this movie looks amazing. Edgar Wright definitely wins. And Cera can be enjoyable when his deadpan schtick is applied correctly, as in Juno, and Scott Pilgrim seems to have hit the right tone for him. There’s probably also untapped comic gold in the idea of Michael Cera kicking anyone’s ass, let alone people like Chris Evans (The Fantastic Four, and newly-named Captain America) and Brandon Routh (Superman Returns). The trailer is heavy on the comic-book inspired action sequences (like Kick Ass, Scott Pilgrim is based on a comic book), and I really really wanted someone to yell FATALITY!!!!! at the end of it. Still, this is an awesome trailer for what looks like an awesome movie.